Matthew Legere is a Master’s Student at ASU Cronkite School of Journalism assigned to cover Hamilton High School for AZPreps365.com

​​CARY, N.C. — Hamilton improved to 14-2 overall on the season after defeating Bishop Verot (Fort Myers, Fla.) 3-1 at Coleman Field in Wednesday’s opening round matchup of the USA Baseball National High School Invitational. 

The NHSI is a 16-team, single-elimination championship tournament held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. Each participating team is guaranteed to play four games with the eventual tournament champion being recognized as the top high school baseball team in the country.

Hamilton and Bishop Verot entered into a field that includes three past champions, including three-time defending champion Orange Lutheran High School (Orange, Calif.), as well as 2016 Champion Huntington Beach High School (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and 2014 Champion The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.).

The Huskies own an all-time NHSI record of 5-3 heading into their third tournament appearance and first since 2017. The Vikings return for just the second time in program history, going 3-1 at their tournament debut in 2014.

Daron Vaught of USA Baseball described Hamilton and Bishop Verot as “the two youngest teams in the field for this year's NHSI,” something that Carlos Collazo of Baseball America expects could be a major difference maker in the tournament. 

“A lot of these teams – who may not have veterans throughout the lineup – are going to be relying on players who are not seniors but certainly have a lot of talent regardless of their age,” Collazo said. “It might be tougher as a player with less experience but [they’ve] certainly got all the talent to back that up.”

Bishop Verot looked to emerge from the proverbial starting gate aggressive after leadoff hitter Josiah Velazquez launched a first-pitch triple to the right-field wall. Following an infield fly out, Velazquez was brought home on an RBI groundout by Maddix Simpson that gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead midway through the first.

Though Velazquez’s triple was the lone hit of the first inning for either side, the Huskies responded with an all-but-common hitless rally in the bottom half of the frame to erase the early deficit and claim a lead of their own. 

Clemson commit Aidan Knaak got the nod on the mound for Bishop Verot but struggled to find much of the plate in his first time around the lineup. Gavin Turley and Roch Cholowsky were hit by pitches on back-to-back at-bats to start the inning and Ryan Kucherak later drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Knaak then surrendered his first two runs of the game on a walk and a fielder's choice, respectively, to Zach Wadas and Prince DeBoskie. 

The Huskies added on in the second with back-to-back singles by Cooper Brass (2-for-3) and Liam Wilson (1-for-2) that once again put two Husky baserunners on with nobody out. After a quick pair of strikeouts from Knaak, Josh Tiedemann (1-for-3) followed up with a two-out RBI single that plated Brass, extended the lead to 3-1, and provided Saloman with all the run support that he would need. 

After a first-pitch triple to start off the game, Saloman faced the minimum number of batters needed to go the distance. He allowed just two additional hits through the final 21 at-bats and benefited from great defensive plays all around the horn, including a backhanded 5-4-3 double play started by Kucherak in the fourth and a game-winning 1-6-3 double play with the tying run at the plate in the seventh. 

Hamilton advances to face Huntington Beach in Thursday’s Elite Eight of the USA Baseball National High School Invitational. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Field 3 of the USA Baseball National Training Complex. Bishop Verot moves into the consolation bracket.